High speed beater



Nov.. 29, 1938, N. A. GRAY 2,338,632

HIGH SPEEDv BEATER Filed July zo, 19:56 2 sheets-sheet 1 N. A. GRAY Nov. 29, 1938.

HIGH SPEED BEATER Filed July 20, 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 VSM @h/Wgr Patented Nov. 29, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 8 Claims.

An object of my invention is to provide a high speed beater of simple and inexpensive construction which operates very efficiently for splitting cellulose fibers and facilitating fibrillation and the admixture of chemicals with the fibers produce a homogeneous pulp which, when delivered to a paper machine and eventually dried, will interlock, mat and felt to afford a smooth surface for writing and inking, or a tough structure for wrapping and packing.

Still a further object is to provide a beater tackle so designed that the tackle is a completely self-contained, unitary assembly, entirely disassociated from the pulp tub.

Another object is to provide a beater so designed that a shaft is rotatable but otherwise stationary, so that stationary anti-friction bearings can be provided in a frame or other mounting for the beater roll shaft thus eifecting a large saving in power, and a direct driven connection from a variable speed motor can be made with the shaft, thus enabling a very desirable change in the circumferential speed of the roll while the beater is in operation. As the beater roll Wears down and its diameter is accordingly reduced, the revolutions per minute of the shaft obviously should be increased to maintain the same circumferential speed. Also due to varying requirements as a result of different types of pulp being beaten, it is desirable to change the speed of the roll, and with my construction this is readily accomplished since the shaft is not movably mounted relative to the frame.

Still a further and very important object of my invention is to provide beater tackle so designed that stresses and strains incidental to beating operation are self-balancing, compensated, not transmitted to the tub and not transmitted to the mill floor.

Another object is to provide a beater in which the pressure between the roll and plate can be varied, while the beater is operating from zero to maximum.

A further object is to provide a beater plate so mounted that rebound incidental to the passage of coarse pulp or any obstruction between the beater roll and the beater plate is absorbed in buffer springs which reduce the impact between the bars of the plate and roll, thus saving 50' the tackle from damage and permitting free passage of oversize pulp or obstructions without changing the pressure set between the plate and roll bars.

Another object is to provide a beater constructed so that assembly and disassembly are facilitated, reduced to a minimum of effort, and in which it is possible to expose the plate for inspection or removal while the tub is full of pulp, thus saving a half beaten charge when inspection becomes necessary.

A further object is to provide a beater in which the plate is movable on a radial line only, so that as wear takes place and the plate is adjusted closer to the roll, the concave face of the plate is not de-centered but absolutely uniform wear on the plate is an inherent result of my construction.

With these and other objects in view, my invention consists in the construction, arrangement and combination of the various parts of my device, whereby the objects contemplated are attained, as hereinafter more fully set forth, pointed out in my claims, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a plan view of a high speed beater embodying my invention and showing it associated with a pulp tub. K

Figure 2 is a side elevation of the same.

Figure 3 is an enlarged sectional View on the line 3-3 of Figure 1.

Figure 4 is a sectional view of a portion of Figure 3 showing the parts in a different adjusted position; and

Figure 5 is an enlarged sectional view on the line 5-5 of Figure 3.

On the accompanying drawings I have used the reference character T to indicate generally a pulp tub. This may be of any suitable construction, preferably reinforced concrete of flume cross section. By way of illustration I show an outer Wall I6, an inner wall l2 and a bottom wall i4. The bottom wall i4 is inclined from the top of a riser portion l (see Figure 2) downwardly throughout the length of the bottom llll to the bottom of the riser portion I6 to induce flow of the pulp inthe direction of the arrows a of Figure 1.

The tub I4 may be supported by a plurality of piers i8 having cast iron shoes 2l) resting on the mill iloor 22. The tub, however, is preferably independent of the mill floor and may be pre-cast, displaced or removed without disturbing the permanent structure of the mill. A pre-cast tub of thischaracter weighs many tons and foundations or anchorage are unnecessary for the tub.

My beater comprises a beater roll R. and a beater plate P. The roll and plate may be of any conventional form having the usual fly bars 24 and plate bars 26 respectively. The ily bars 24 are mounted in any conventional manner and separated by the usual spacers such as hard wood spacers indicated at 23. The roll R is secured to a shaft 353, which in turn is journalled in roller bearings or other anti-friction type of bearings 32. The bearings 32 are supported by a pair of frame members Sii, which may be spaced apart and located within the inner wall l2 and outside of the outer wall H3 of the tub T, as clearly shown in Figure l.

The frame members 3s may be secured to the floor 22 by anchor bolts 3, whereby the floor serves to tie the two frames rigidly together as a unitary frame. The frame members Ell may be of cast iron or any other suitable material, and suitable packings or shaft seals Vmay be provided for the shaft 3l?. It is not deemed necessary, however, to illustrate such seals on the drawings.

The plate bars 2t are supported in a cross bar 33 and spaced apart by hard woodblocks fill. For mounting the cross bars 3S I provide hubs l2 on the ends thereof which are slidably mounted on sleeves M. The sleeves il@ in turn are slidably mounted on eye rods d6. The eye rods l areinclined and have their lower ends pinned by pins 48 to ears 5G of the frames 345.

The upper ends of the eye rods 6 are keyed in gear housings 52, nuts Ed'being provided to retain the rods Il@ .and housings 52 rigidly assembled relative'to each other. The housings 52 are provided with trunnions 5S received in the upper -ends of links 58, the lower ends of the links being pinned by pins E@ to the frames 3ft. 'This provides a triangular arrangement of parts, Vthe length of the eye rods l and the links 58 being such that the aXes of the rods 4G intersect the axis of the shaft 3Q. This provides an` accurate radial arrangement of the rods. 46 for a purpose which will hereinafter appear. Y

The ,sleeves d@ are slidably and non-rotatably mounted on the rods fit. Sliding keys 62 are provided for accomplishing this result. The lower ends of the sleeves are provided with flanges 85, while adjacent the gear housings 52 collars E6 are mounted on the sleeves. These collars are screw threaded and held in any adjusted position by clamp bolts (it, the collars 66 being split to permit gripping of the collar on the sleeve when the clamp bolts are tightened. Buffer springs 'it and pressure springs l2 are interposed between the iianges 65 and the lower ends of the hubs 42 and between the collars 65 and the upper ends of the hubs l2 respectively.V

Means is provided for sliding'the. sleeves lid relative to the eye rods i. This means consists of a worm gear nut Eil housed in each gear housing 52 and aworm i6 coacting therewith. The worms FS are connected together for simultaneous rotation by a shaft 18. VThe shaft 'i3 extends through both gear housings 52 and terminates at the front oi the beater in an adjusting hand wheel 8l). Obviously rotation of the hand wheel 8@ will rotate the worms 'i6 and thereby rotate the worm gear nuts 'lll for either expelling or retracting the sleeves il simultaneously relative to the gear casings 52. Y The beater is provided with a hood 82 to direct the pulp discharged from the beater roll over a baille wall Bil of the tub T. The plate P is providedwwith a lower lip 3S which acts as an inlet nozzle forthe incoming pulp. The hood 82 adjacent the plate P carries a strip rubber seal 88 to prevent undesired expulsion of moisture from the beater. Obviously other seals may also be provided for the same purpose, but have not been illustrated as they form no part of my present invention.

For driving the beater, I provide a speed reducer 9E? (see Figure l) directly connected with the beater shaft 3c. The gearing in the reducer is driven by a variable' speed motor s2. VTheV speed of the motor may be varied in any manner. By way of illustration I show a rheostat for this purpose.

Practical operation In the operation of my high speed beater, the

roll R rotates in the direction of the arrow b.

In so doing, the roll blades 24 pick up the pulp suspended in the water in the tub T and act upon the pulp much in the manner of a milling cutter.

In revolving, the cells between the bars 24 of the roll become lled with pulp and the bars carry the pulp over the plate cells. This results in the fibers of thel pulp being cut between the roll bars and the plate bars, thereby being cut and brillated, while the bers dragged between the faces of the roll bars and plate bars are beaten or crushed, thus opening the way to efcient hydration and resulting in pounding of chemicals and llers into the elementary cells of the cellulose. The meeting edges of the bars do the cutting and brillating, while the meeting faces of the bars do the beating and hydrating, the cells or spaces between the bars thoroughly agitating and mixing the pulp into a homogeneous mass. l

The pulp isAv then thrown off by centrifugal force over the baille'wall til and continues to circulate, as indicated by the arrow atr in Figure 1, being sub-Y jected to the action of the beater each time it circulates once around the tub.

After sumcient subjection to the action of the beater, the pulp is let out of the tub and another batch let in for beater action.

With the parts adjusted to the position shown in Figure 3, the pressure of the beater plate on the beater roll is zero. The springs' 70 and 72 are both under tension but are balancing each other. Adjusted as in Figure 4, with the sleeve 44 extended to a further downward position, the tension of the spring 'i2 is predominant, and the tension of the spring l0 hasbeen decreased substantially as compared with its tension when in the position of Figure 3. The plate Pis now subjected to the tension of the springs Vl2 so that the beater action is increased.

In Figure 4 I illustrate an oversize piece of pulp 96 which, when caught between the bars 24 and 26, will tend to spread the roll and plate apart, the plate relative to the roll in such position as shown by Ydotted lines. During this spreading action, part of the impact is directed toward the plate and part toward the roll. Since the two are connected in a unitary structure, the relative movement of the two is such that there occurs a complete compensation, resulting in the impact being absorbed by the beater unit instead of being transmitted to the mill floor or the tub.

After the oversize piece of Ypulp SS has passed the plate, the return movement of the plate will occur, but the shock of such movement will be greatly absorbed by the buffer springs 1@ which have to be compressed before the plate can return to its initialposition. This greatly reduces shocks during operation of the beater, and effec-y tively prevents damage as well as reducing wear to a minimum. Repair and up-keep of the beater are accordingly reduced.

If at any time it Vis desirable to examine the working face of the beater plate, the pins 48can be readily removed and the plate swung back to" a position permitting inspection. vThis can be done without the necessity of having to draw oli the pulp from the tub T.

fMy beater lls the prescribed requisites for smooth and effective beater performance, which are: y

l. Proper operation on a batch of slush stock of consistency as high as gravitycirculation will permit. Y

2. A stationary or non-floating beater roll of wide face and small diameter revolving at high speed..

`3. The possibility of using anti-friction bearings without constructional` complications, thus reducing power consumption toa minimum.

4. The mounting of the plate so that-it may be pressed against the roll under control of the operator in a plane always radial to and concentric with the roll.

5. YProvision for damp'ening` the impact between the roll and the plate, thus eliminating transmission of such impact to the mill door or other supporting structure. l

6. Provision of a unitary plateand roll assembly which is axially rigid, yet radially flexible due to the mounting of the plate as disclosed, the entire beater unit being self-contained and self-compensating for stresses and vibrations; and

'7. Such design of a beater that a direct variable speed drive can be used.

By making the roll stationary and the plate adjustable, the pressure application through compression springs provides positive control. 'I'he plate is suspended for rectilinear movement in the plane of a radius of the roll and is concentric with the roll, whereby the arc of contact between the plate and roll remains at constant amplitude and thereby coincidence of the roll and plate bars is always assured, thus resulting in even wear on the bars.

By mounting the pressure and buffer springs in opposition to each other and in balance with each other, (the pressure and buiier springs having identical characteristics) the force of the impact of the plate against the roll incidental to a rebound is absorbed by the temporarily distended buier springs, which must be recompressed upon the rebound occurring and thus substantially dampen the jar resulting from impact. Buffer springs mounted as I disclose do not affect in the least the pressure control.

By making a beater in the form of a unitary assembly, the dissipation of power will be concentrated upon the pulp and stresses and strains in the apparatus will be internally balanced, thus providing self-compensation for the forces and vibrations resulting from operation of the beater.

With the use of a direct connection for driving the beater, I eliminate the waste of power arising from belt slippage experienced with other types of beaters, and also make is possible to vary the speed of the beater while in operation as desired to meet various conditions.

Mounting the plate in the position illustrated, leads to a simple design of the hood 32 for the beater mechanism, and the motion of the pulp being counter-flow to the rotation of the beater roll, makes for a uniform filling of the r'oll cells and disposition of the pulp after it has been beaten between the roll and plate.

Some changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of the parts of my device without departing from the real spirit and purpose of my invention, and it is my intention to cover by my claims, any modied forms of structure or use of mechanical equivalents which may be reasonably included within their scope.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a high speed beater, a beater unit comprising a frame, a shaft supported thereby for rotation relative thereto,'a beater roll secured to said shaft, a beater plate and means for mounting said beater plate comprising elements extending radially with respect to said beater roll and supported by said frame, said beater plate being slidably mounted relative thereto for movement toward and away from said beater roll and a pair of springs mounted on each of said elements with one of said pair ci springs engaging the outer face of the beater plate to urge it toward the beater roll and the other oi said pair oi springs engaging the inner face of the beater plate to urge it away from the beater roll, said rst spring being under greater tension than the second one to constrain said beater plate to engage said beater roll.

2. Ina high speed beater, a beater unit comprising a frame, a shaft supported thereby for rotation relative thereto, a beater roll secured tolsaid shaft, a beater plate and means for mounting said beater plate comprising elongated guide elements at opposite ends of said beater roll and extending radially with respect thereto, said guide elements being supported by said frame, said beater plate having end hubs slidably mounted relative to said guide elements for movement toward and away from said beater roll, a pair of springs under compression on each of said guide elements and arranged on opposite sides of said end hubs.

3. In a high speed beater, a beater unit comprising a frame, a shaft supported thereby for rotation relative thereto, a beater roll secured to said shaft, a beater plate and means for mounting said beater plate comprising elements eX- tending radially with respect to said beater roll and supported by said frame, said beater plate being slidably mounted relative to said elements for movement toward and away from said beater roll, pressure resilient means constraining said beater plate to engage said beater roll and buer resilient means opposing said pressure resilient means to reduce the impact between the plate and roll incident to passage of coarse pulp therebetween.

4. In a high speed beater, a beater unit comprising a frame, a shaft supported thereby for rotation relative thereto, a beater roll secured to said shaft, a beater plate and means for mounting said beater plate comprising elements. extending radially with respect to said beater roll, links, said elements and links being connected together, the elements and links also being connected to the frame and resilient means mounted on the elements and on opposite sides of said beater plate and constraining the plate to engage the roll when the beater is in operation.

5. In a beater structure, a beater, a shaft supported for rotation, a beater roll secured to said shaft, a beater plate and means for mounting said beater plate comprising elements extending radially with respect to said beater roll, said beater plate being slidably mounted relative thereto for movement toward and away from said beater roll and means for adjusting the plate radially toward the roll to compensate for Wear, said means including a resilient element urging said plate toward the roll and a second resilient element urging it away from the roll, the force of said rst resilient element being greater than the force of the second one for tensioning the plate against the roll.

6. In a beater structure, a beater unit comprising a frame, a shaft supported thereby for rotation relative thereto, a beater roll secured to said shaft, a beater plate and means for mounting said beater plate comprising elongated guide elements at opposite ends of said beater ro-ll, said guide elements being supported by said frame, said beater plate having its ends slidably mounted relative to said guide elements toward and away from said beater roll, a pair of springs under compression on said guide elements and arranged on opposite sides of said beater plate ends and means for simultaneously increasing the'tension of one spring of each pair of springs and decreasing the tension of the other spring of each pair of springs. f

'7. In a beater structure, a beater unit comprising a frame, a shaft supported thereby for rotation relative thereto, a beater roll secured to said shaft, a beater plate, guide means for mounting said beater plate on said frame for movement toward and away from said beater roll, resilient means mounted on said guide means andyconstraining said beater plate to engage said beater roll, a second resilient means mounted on said guide means and constraining said beater plate to move away from said roll and means for varying the tension of said beater plate against said beater roll fromzero to maximum while ithe beater is in operation. Y 1

8. In a beater structure, ay beater comprising a frame, a shaft supported thereby for rotation relative thereto, a beater roll secured to said shaft, a beater plate and means for mounting said beater plate for movement toward and away from said beater roll comprising guide elements eX- tending radially with respect to said beater roll, links, one of the ends of said elements and links being connected together, the otherof the ends of said elements and links being connected tothe frame, all in triangular formation, resilient means mounted on said guide elements and constraining the plate to engage the roll when the beater is in operation and other resilient means also mounted on said guide elements and arranged in opposition to said rst mentioned resilient means. Y

NEWENI-IAM A. GRAY.y 

